My turn to post this week. And I want to talk about the blog that my Calculus class has been keeping.  First of all, it isn't easy to add this piece to my classes.  But, there are many other things that I do with students in classes that I do because they help me understand how the kids are learning and this is clearly another example of that kind of activity.  If you are inclined to take a peak at what the students created last semester, ask me and I will add you as a follower.  The kids and I did a debrief of the project after the new semester started and the reports were mixed, but when they talked about what was good about it, I knew that I needed to change little things, but keep the project.  With changes, we are underway again, and it seems to be going well, even though I made a mistake in assigning one of the dates and ended up having to post one day last week myself.  It really is quite a record of what they are hearing and learning!

Now for the sad news: Page forwarded an article to me yesterday that Twitter, which bought the posterous blog platform and company last March, is planning on "shuttering" posterous soon.  The article included instructions about how one could rescue most of the posts and move them to Blogger (this platform) or Wordpress(which the 9-12 faculty used for the "Good Teaching Blog," a couple of years ago).  I plan to spend some hours this weekend moving the kids' first semester records using these instructions.  I will post again next week to let you know how easy or hard (and time-consuming) that proves to be.  TC

Apple TV

Happy holidays. 100% of the 4th/5th grade floor is now equipped with Apple TV and the changes are instantly noticeable. We all know that the device is immediately transformative but for the longest time I did not see one in action. My room was the only one with Apple TV. Now, with three more, I can see how other teachers are using this simple but powerful tool. I have noticed a more collaborative atmosphere as students and teachers engage with the information on the screen. The classroom appears to be a more “natural” space. Teachers are sitting with their students and having conversations. The teacher’s body language is that of community exploration and discussion rather than information dissemination. Lessons appear to be more fluid as notes and apps can be organized ahead of time and stored “behind the scenes.” Lastly, the tool has added instant depth to conversation because the power of the iPads is at our fingertips and clearly visible to all. Our challenge will be to reflect on how we implement this device and how we can use it to transform the way we teach and how students learn but I think we are on our way. It will take a great deal of tinkering, trial and error, and a great deal of reflection. We are at a pivotal point in education and can begin to redefine how learing and teaching happens in classrooms. I think positive change will start to occur only when the teachers see themselves as learners. Here is an opinion on that matter.

Math 7 iPad Project

It is Monday, and my Math 7 students began a project today on the iPads. This is my first venture in using the iPads in the classroom. Using Explain Everything, I have asked them to create a teaching video (in groups of 2) about solving equations containing integers. Not daunting at all because I have been using the app to create my own videos for the few times I have flipped the classroom. So, I got a chance to learn it through using it before asking my students to dive in. Their audience is another 7th grade student who knows how to work with integers, but not how to solve equations with integers. I have given them some structure, but the rest is up to them. For example: 1) they need to teach all four equation types, 2) they need to narrate each slide, 3) they need to create a rough draft of each slide before getting on the iPads, 4) and I have encouraged them to include an original song/rap about solving equations. In my head, I think we can be done with the project in 4 days. After today, I am not so sure. It took some groups 30 minutes just to get the intro slide the way they liked it. :) Nonetheless, once they become more familiar with the app, I think they will fly through the set up. I can't wait to see how they narrate their slides! It is fun to watch them switch into teacher mode, something I think they are all capable of doing. I think this is a project that is accessible to all students. I am choosing to do this project for two reasons. It is different that our normal routine, and I think adding a little spice to the classroom is a wonderful way to keep students engaged. Secondly, when students are asked to explain something, it further embeds the idea in their brains. Being able to communicate their math ideas, strategies, and reasoning is important to me, and this skill is a cornerstone of my curriculum.

In terms of assessing this project, I did not create a rubric. In our TLC2 meeting last week, Sarah mentioned that she didn't give her students a rubric for a recent iMovie project in her English 7 class. Instead, she put more emphasis on a self-reflection/assessment sheet they did at the end of the project. This got me thinking. I put pressure on myself to have a checklist/rubric for every project I introduce, and that can be hard. I like the idea of giving them an open ended project and letting them end up where they end up. At this point, I am planning on assessing them on their effort, completion of the project, and a reflection sheet at the end. And perhaps there doesn't need to be a grade at all-- who says something has to be entered in my grade book? Interesting how this project has brought up the idea of assessment for me. :)

It's MONDAY

My turn! So I now have solid footing on the Notability train. Woo Woo. I have been using it for my class notes and it seems to be working nicely. The best part is now I can organize my notes with ease and access documents right into my notes. I usually save them as PDF files and then import them so that I can write on them. I have emailed the notes to students that are not in class which I could do before from my tablet but now it is just that much easier. I also have downloaded an ap on my iPhone that acts like a scanner. I can take photos of documents and then upload them as PDF files. The jury is still out as to if this is a worth while ap. What I do like about it is I don't have to go over to the copy room to scan. I can do it from my desk here in HURD. Please let me know if you want to chat more about these aps. Love to hear more info on them too if you have any. Happy Monday!

Project Help

The young writers in the 4-5 Program are putting the finishing touches on their descriptive writing piece and will soon start work on a non-fiction piece.  Students will be interviewing members of the Waynflete community who have immigrated to the United States and writing an "article" based on that interview.  

The teachers would like to make this writing public but we are unsure of the best way to accomplish that.  Currently, we are thinking about capturing the recorded voice of our writing groups.  We would then like to take the recording and link it on a map so that there is a visual representation of where the subject of the interview is from.  

Our initial brainstorms led us to garage band but we are unsure if we can embed those recordings on a map.

We could also use Voice Thread and hyper link the map.

We could create individual Explain Everythings with maps as the background slide.  We could then post those recordings on the web via YouTube.

We know there are other possibilities but cannot think of them.  WWTLCD?  (What would TLC do?)  Share your thoughts with us.  We would appreciate the help.

Today's Meet

In preparation for the Lower School retreat, Page, our fearless leader, showed us a platform that allowed for real time communication a la Twitter without the account.  The web-based site is called Today's Meet and I have been implementing it in my 4th and 5th grade classroom.  The site is simple to use.  You set up a chat room by creating a room name.  This name is then added to the end of the TodaysMeet.com url.  Participants can then enter the room using the url and engage in conversation.  Entries are limited to 140 characters and the chatroom can last for 2 hours up to one year.

I have used Today's Meet as part of my literature conversations.  I pre-loaded the page onto the iPads and asked small cooperative groups to share their predictions about the book.  When one group made a bold prediction, other groups would notice and evaluate the validity of the statement looking closely at their own books.  As we began reading, I placed iPads around the room.  As students stumbled upon major discoveries, formulated questions, generated connections, or made predictions they were encouraged to add to our chat.  I also sent a note home letting families know about this tool so students could record their thoughts while doing their homework.

I found that our conversations are more active and students are more connected with "digging" into their text.  Students have reported that the ongoing chat helps them focus since they can relieve their working memory of the big ideas and not carry them around until our next scheduled conversation.

Check it out!  Todaysmeet.com

Reflections

"Using technology effectively in education requires much, much more than just technical skills. Instead, through the use of technology we have the opportunity to sculpt educational visions that address the real needs of children entering a new world."  -Sam Gliksman's Blog, iPads in Education

It's Labor Day, the last official day of a relaxing, yet busy summer spent mostly in Maine. Although I still connected to news and extended friends and family via the internet on the computer and iphone (also my favorite way to take and modify pics these days), until a conference I attended in late August at the Bancroft School, I spent very little time using my newest tool, the iPad (except for reading blogs on my favorite RSS feeds, Zite and Flipboard). I was able to enjoy much more time connected to my family, my garden and the sea. I spent lots of "unplugged" time listening to my own brain, more music (mostly on my iphone) and to the sounds of nature; I felt more balanced! But this healthier balance I feel today is not attributed to less "plugged-in" time, it is just attributed to more leisure time and the choice to plug-in or not. I am so grateful for this time!

By the end of June last year, I was convinced that the iPad had become an invaluable tool in most of my classes and it was my student's "virtual language laboratory." Last week, the Bancroft School iPad Institute absolutely confirmed my belief that this little device is/can/will be an invaluable learning tool that will lighten all of our backpacks and book bags and reduce the amount of paper flow in our classrooms - not to mention all the other tasks it will help us perform, the lessons it will help us learn and the ease of collaboration it will allow!  I am envious of Bancroft's journey because I believe that for this tool to be most efficient, it needs to be in the hands of all learners in the community.  Check out Bancroft's iPad Initiative page and Richard Bryne's Free Technology For Teachers page (he was the keynote speaker at the conference), or the iPads in Education Ning to read more articles on teaching with this tool and asking "WHY?" this tool might work for you.

During the conference at Bancroft, some teachers were still taking notes by hand (I, proudly, did not...this is HUGE for me), there were technology glitches, there was also the normal anxiety one usually encounters; however, there was something else, too!  There was a room full of about 40 teachers and 15 students who had (mostly) made a commitment to teach, learn and collaborate on this device.  Many of my generation (40 and above) were doing what Cathy Davidson writes about in her introduction of, "Now You See It."  They were "Unlearning" old habits.  However, I was profoundly moved by their willingness to jump out of their comfort zone and experiment with the mind boggling amount of "there's an app for that" choices in each of their disciplines (not to mention that many of them will be teaching with etexts next year).  The sharing and collaboration was inevitable and wonderful, and although everyone carried an iPad, people still talked, looked each other in the eye and moved about the spaces easily....it is such a portable, collaborative device!  Thankfully, the school was able to make some choices about apps that everyone would use for note taking and document writing this year.  Like us, they have moved to google to communicate via email and, like us, they still upload important docs on a school portal.  However, all students in grades 6-12 have a school gmail account.  All students and teachers take notes in Notability (I LOVE this app!) and everyone uses  iPages (word processing), Numbers (like Excel), Keynote (like PowerPoint).  Here is full list of required apps that the school found most successful last year.

As I begin to think about next year in my classes at Waynflete and my continued collaboration on TLC, I will return to and tweak what I have already created on my wikis, google sites and iPad app presentations, but I will also look forward to some new additions and creating a full year course with 1:1 iPads in Spanish I (so excited for this!).  This does not mean that I will not make a huge commitment to speaking with, engaging with and collaborating with my students...it simply means that I will attempt to use the tools I have (so gratefully) at my disposal to enhance our already engaging conversations, projects, etc...  I will make mistakes, there will be technology glitches and I will fail at some of the new ways of facilitating my lessons, but I know my students will be there to help me find my way in my emerging 21st Century classroom.  I am excited to begin a new year!

For those interested in exploring, here are some of the tools (some require building/creating on the computer and some are just apps that can be used only on the iPad) that I will use in my classes:

Notability (note taking, storytelling, organization...wonderful!)
Explain Everything (storytelling...fabulous app!!)
Quizlet (vocabulary practice...LOVE!)
Voicethread (storytelling and collaboration...by far one of the best out there ;-)
QWiki (a visual, audio wikispaces...just learning about this, but it looks promising)
Sound Cloud and Audioboo (aural/oral practice...our virtual language lab)
CloudOn (microsoft word...links to dropbox)
Dropbox (storing/sharing)
Mental Case (vocabulary flashcards with audio)
Teacherkit (a teacher organizational tool)
GDrive (a direct link to goodle drive)
Animoto (fun, quick and simple video app for showcasing your own photos:  check out one I made with photos I have taken over the years in Spain: España)
wikispaces and google sites (all of my classes have a class page...check out our Spanish 7 Site:)
TedSubtitle (watch ted talks with subtitles in many languages)
Fotopedia
Skype
WordReference (a Spanish/English Dictionary)